Jeff Lee, age 7, of Texas City,Tex

A mother turtle lays her eggs in loose sand or dirt and goes on her way  They need warmth in order to hatch and the warmth is provided by the beaming sun which warms the ground and their earthy nest  This long, slow job which sometimes takes all summer  In a very warm summer, the eggs of small American turtles may hatch in two months usually they take about three months and if the summer happens to be rather cool they may not hatch for four long months 

Jeff has a few mud turtle eggs in a sandy box, which is the proper place for them to hatch  They hatch faster when they are warm, but you cannot speed this up by putting them in a warm oven, If the turtle nest is kept in a warm room or on a sunny porch, the baby turtles can be expected to enter the world in two to three months